1892. | Briefer Articles. 255 
Am. Acad. v (1862), p. 169, remarks that “the genus Sc/eropus was evi- 
dently founded upon an abnormal character, a thickening of the 
peduncle and pedicels, which occurs in various Amarantacez. Schra- 
der’s [it should be Moquin’s] S. crassipes is an Euxolus, etc.” 
Bentham and Hooker, in Gen. Plant. (1883), p. 29, accept Dr. Gray’s 
opinion, and include this plant under Amarantus, together with 
Euxolus, Mengea, Amblogyne and other of Moquin’s Prodromus 
genera. Finally, Hemsley, in Biol. Cent.-Am. 111 (1882-1886), p. 14, 
includes this species with all its synonyms under Amarantus poly- 
gonoides. 
A mere glance at the two plants is sufficient to excite doubt as to 
the correctness of this course. Closer inspection leads to positive 
certainty that Schlechtendal’s plant, while remarkable for the thicken- 
ing of its peduncles, is not an abnormal condition, and is specifically 
distinct from the plant with which Hemsley has united it. 
In the first place, the histological investigation of these incrassate 
peduncles shows normal tissue. Certainly the thickening is not due 
to insect or fungus work. And the idea that we have here a case 
Similar to the fasciation in the coxcomb, for instance, is refuted by 
the uniform dichotomy in the short clusters of inflorescence, sessile in 
the axils of which are the pistillate flowers. In this particular, as in- 
deed in the entire description of this plant, Schlechtendal is scrupu- 
lously correct. He expressly mentions this thickening as constant In 
a large series of specimens before him. These were all from the 
island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies.. The specimens in the Na- 
‘onal Herbarium comprise Wright’s Cuban plant number 2033, Curtiss’ 
Florida plant number 2378, Blodgett’s Florida plant, Letterman s 
Texan plant iz part, Dr. Mohr’s Alabama plant, and Simpson’s Florida 
Plant number 482, collected this spring. It thus appears that this 
Peduncular thickening is as constant,both in time and in geographical 
On, as it is remarkable. 
But, apart from these striking peduncles, the plant has flower and 
fruit characters that entitle it to specific rank. The spatulate sepals 
Of its pistillate flowers have one green mid-vein; the ovary has /wo 
6 &s; the ripened utricle is indehiscent. In Amarantus aren”: 
n the other hand, the sepals, also spatulate, have, in addition to the 
See two lateral veins; the ovary has three styles; the ee 
eed Ob aoa The seeds also of A. crassipes are one-thir 
an those of 4. polygonoides. : 
supechtendal found aS anita flowers in his plants. The later 
Ors state that they occur solitary in the axils of the upper leaves. 
€ Writer has uniformly found them solitary at the base of the flower 
